658 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



thought to be necessary to mention in a limited 

 essay of this nature. It may be well to allude 

 to the application of steam to the plow, as 

 there is a general interest extant on this subject 

 at present, and there is but little doubt but the 

 time is not distant yvhen this problem wall be 

 solved by the ingenuity of man, 



The history of past inventions may be in- 

 structive on this subject. In this we find that 

 when steam has been made to do the w^ork of 

 man or beast, it frequently occurs that a method 

 of applying the powder quite different from 

 that before in use must be adopted to accom- 

 plish the end. Hence, a very ingenious inven- 

 tor once remarked that, w4ien he applied his 

 mind to the invention of an}' labor-saving ma- 

 chine, he always tried to keep out of view the 

 ordinary manner of doing the work, as it tended 

 to circumscribe his efforts within a certain 

 limit, and he generally found it necessary to do 

 the work in some other way — frequently back- 

 wards. 



It is probable that when an efncient steam 

 plow is invented, it will be by some one com- 

 paratively ignorant of our common plow and 

 its use, by studying the thing required to be 

 done, without any fixed notions of hoio it is to 

 be done. 



Societies or individuals therefore might great- 

 ly hasten the time of its advent by offering large 

 rewards fn* a cheap, efficient steam machine 

 that would thc^roughly stir and mix the soil to 

 the greatest possible depth. Some ingenious 

 mechanic, having no settled notions as to turn- 

 ing furrows, may invent some form of machine 

 which shall do the work more after the manner 

 of the spade, which is the nearest to peri'ection 

 now known. The principle of revolving spades 

 ur diggers is more likel}' to be improved upon 



rability of the cast iron mould-board will bring 

 them into general use. As to the construction 

 of the plow, much may be said. The general 

 description of the mouhi-board, which seems to 

 approximate nearest to the true practical shape, 

 is defined as " composed of straight lines in the 

 direction of its length, with continually increas- 

 ing angles to the line of the furrow, these lines 

 being either straight or concave or horizontal 

 sections of the mould-board." As the shape of 

 the mould-board is of greater moment than any 

 other thing belonging to the plow, it will be well 

 to give it a passing notice. As has been before 

 suggested, its length and slope must vary in 

 plows f jr different kinds of work. As a means 

 of making its general shape better understood, 

 it has been described as a twisted wedge; the 

 angles of the wedge and its length will give all 

 the modifications of the mould-board according 

 to the most approved theoretical shape, but 

 practice shows that the friction falls upon dif- 

 ferent portions of the mould-board according to 

 the difference of soils and the depth the plow is 

 put into the ground. A little reflection will 

 show^ that no uniform shape wnll meet every in- 

 dication. Thus in light friable soils, where 

 there is no adhesiveness to overcome, the 

 " twisted wedge'^ may be the very shape requi- 

 red, being made steep or long and low, accord- 

 ing to wiiether the design is to turn over or mix 

 the soil in plowing; but in a tough grass sod, in 

 addition to overcoming the gravity of the soil, 

 there is the adhesiveness caused by the roots to 

 be overcome, which has a tendency to throw the 

 friction lower down upon the mould-board in 

 proportion to the depth of the matted roots, 

 compared wnth the depth of the furrow-slice ; 

 and this variation of the point of resistance 

 is still greater if the soil is of a tenacious 



- o'~> - ■ — J [ - _ _ ^ 



than that of drawing plows through the soil character. It would seem that a deviation from 



by steam, 



It will be seen that simple suggestions are 

 made ; it would be presumption to speak of posi- 

 tive modifications when so much has ah-eady 

 been written on this subject. In Stevens's Book 

 of the Farm and in the American Farmer's En- 

 cyclopedia will be found articdes on the plow 



the rule by which most boards are sloped 

 might be introduced to advantage; and for a 

 tenacious clay sod, if the mould-board were 

 elongated in its front and hmer part and made 

 a little more full just where itbeginsto rise from 

 the horizontal, just at that point which first 



I ' lifts the furrow-slice after it is severed, it would 



in which the matter is treated in detail. The be better suited to the work than the theoreti- 



object of the writer is rather to make sugges- 

 tiiHis which experience seems to point to as the 

 direction of improvement. 



Thematerials best adapted to the construction 

 •of the plow in the southwest are well defined by 



cally true shape. There is a limit to the re- 

 duction of the angle of the mould-board, and 

 this is maiked by the increased friction caused 

 by the greater surface offered bj) the easier in- 

 clined plane face of the mould-board. To at- 



practice. The beam and handles can be made j tain to the most perfect form for all the soils 

 of the best white oak much cheaper than of; and aims of plowing requires the careful use of 

 iron, and they are light an.d durable; the share i the dynamometer. The writer's opinion is that 

 and cutter of wrought iron laid with the besti no great advance wdll be made in the structure 

 cast-steel; the mould-board of steel or cast iron ! of the plow until a much more perfect instru- 

 in preference to wrought. A st^eel mould-board ] ment for measuring draft than we now have is 

 takes a better polish, and consequently offers invented, because the most desirable improve- 

 less resistance than any other kind. Well-pol- mQnt'mthei^Aim is, diminished draft and increas- 

 ished cast iron is next in quality in this respect, j 66^ depth of furrow. No true judgment of a 

 It is generally more the defect in form than in| plow can be formed without this instrument; 

 material that prevents cast mould-boards from imperfect as it is, its use has already developed 

 ''scouring'' well. The great cheapness and du-| some facts which show that mathematical cal- 



